A Search Marketing Agency

SEO

Blog / News / SEO / Uncategorized — No Comments
17
May 13

Coming Soon: Penguin 2.0

Matt Cutts announced on Monday that there are some pretty big changes in the Google algorithm coming down the pipes, as Cutts calls it: Penguin 2.0. Exact release date is TBA, but it sounds like it will be coming in the summer months.

In the past, algorithm updates have only been revealed when they are significant. This one was announced ahead of time and labeled with a 2.0, not a 1.6,7,etc. – so we can expect that the SERPs will be shifting indefinitely pretty soon. Some brands will likely see improvements in their search performance, while others less fortunate may fall off the radar completely. Continue reading →

Blog / News / SEO — No Comments
23
Apr 13

Help Us Welcome Kai to the Crew!

Kai AlcazarenFor the third time this year, we’re elated to introduce a new member of Team Evolve. Hailing from Festus, Kai Alcazaren is officially on board as an SEO Manager.

Kai brings with him an impressive portfolio of digital experience, including having developed custom mobile applications for higher education. His interest in lead generation and user experience made Kai an ideal candidate for the position, in which he will assist clients and our own brand in building a stronger digital presence. From generating content strategy to fixing on-site errors, Kai is going to contribute in a myriad of ways. We can’t wait to get started.

Kai has already adjusted swimmingly, dodging our sarcasm with charm and impressing us with his dietary self control (he willingly snacked on a plain baked sweet potato as the rest of us enjoyed sangrias and jerk chicken at Boogaloo for HIS induction lunch). That’s dedication.
Continue reading →

Blog / Content creation / SEO / Uncategorized — No Comments
18
Apr 13

Connecting with Consumers through Search

Today Derek spoke at IABC’s seminar, The Communicators’ Toolkit, about the ability for brands to use Search as a means of connecting with consumers. The purpose of using keywords on a website isn’t to bait people online; it’s to match your brand’s services and products to the needs of a searcher.

If your website is receiving primarily branded traffic, you are missing out on the opportunity to connect with the larger audience that is unaware of your brand – yet has needs your services or goods can fulfill.

Derek talked about the importance of understanding a buyer persona before diving into keyword research, then making sure a website is able to rank for terms that attract audiences in all stages of what we call the “sales funnel.” To break it down simply, most people start searching with a vague problem in mind. As they perform additional research, they refine their queries to be more specific and often inclusive of a brand name.

Check out the presentation below:

Blog / SEO — 6 Comments
15
Apr 13

Digital Passive Aggression: A (Silly) Guide to Negative SEO

Your gym charged double for last month’s membership. The site from which you bought textbooks never shipped them, nor refunded you. Whatever the reason, you’re mad. But as you know, it’s 2013. And if there’s one way we love to lash out, it’s passively, dammit. I’m here today to present a list of ways you can do so without having to actually confront anyone.

Disclaimer: I don’t condone sabotaging a brand’s reputation or success online. These are merely hypothetical, highly passive aggressive scenarios that you could feasibly carry out if you were burning with an undying passion and needed to do something about it before you snap (by the way, try yoga first). Anyway, this is simply a lighthearted post about reverse-SEO tactics. Why so serious?

Fair, but firm:

Forget the customer service line. Passive aggression is about attempting to teach a lesson without actually having to talk to anyone about it. Here’s where you can start:

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

Continue reading →

Blog / Link Building / SEO — No Comments
27
Feb 13

Are your link building efforts outdated?

Last week we mentioned how to use keyword research organically. While it may seem elementary to some, the reality is Google’s algorithm has changed in the past couple years, forcing some brands to think twice about the way they are using (and sometimes abusing) SEO elements like keywords. (If this is you, be sure to check out the post so you know where you can safely use keywords on your site.)

Today we’re going to dig into link building, or outreach, as it’s often referred to in 2013. Even if you haven’t purchased links for your site, there’s a pretty good chance your old methods are quickly fading into oblivion. So let’s look at a brief overview of which tactics are losing their relevancy and what you can do to get back into the game. Continue reading →

Blog / SEO — No Comments
19
Feb 13

Using Keyword Research for Organic Search

We’re big fans of Keyword Research. Huge. We include it in our SEO Audit because we know how a brand can benefit from targeting the right audience with its site. It’s pretty obvious how a client can use keyword research for Paid Search; bidding on suggested terms will prompt the display of a relevant ad to the searcher. If implemented strategically, the campaign will direct paid clicks to keyword-specific landing pages.

How do I safely use keywords on my site?

What many clients don’t understand, however, is how to use keywords for organic search. Recent updates in Google’s algorithm penalize websites that try to manipulate the system. One example is the creation of thin content; webmasters will build out thousands of pages containing one or two paragraphs. These pages provide very little value to the visitor; rather, they exist only to house keywords and trick Google into thinking the site is authoritative on a subject.

Thin content online

Continue reading →

Blog / Insightful Interns / News / SEO — No Comments
15
Feb 13

Intern wanted!

Intern wanted image

Team Evolve is searching for someone with an interest in Search to contribute to the team as an Internet Marketing intern.

About us:

We’re a digital marketing agency that focuses on SEO, PPC, content strategy, outreach, and beer. Our office is located in Maplewood and has some exceptional character, just like everyone on Team Evolve. One thing that makes us different from a lot of other SEO or SEM firms is that we put a strong emphasis on educating our clients, rather than just doing the work for them and sending over the results.

We have fun, but we also get shit done. This is a PAID internship, so we’re only interested in applicants that impress us.

Continue reading →

Blog / Internet Marketing / SEO / Uncategorized — No Comments
13
Feb 13

Put content on hold; first fix what’s broken.

SEO in 2013 encapsulates much more than it once did. Rather than dousing a site’s pages in keywords and purchasing thousands of crummy links, brands are now receptive to the idea of doing more than just ranking on Google’s first page. It’s partly due to the updates in search engines’ algorithms, but also due to the fact that we as searchers have raised our expectations for what is acceptable on a website.

John Candy Content can wait

This post, however, acknowledges the significance in fixing a website’s errors in order to make the pages more easily crawled and indexed. There’s undoubtedly value in recording content ideas in your handy sketchbook – but before pursuing those creative sparks, it’s best to pump the breaks and ensure your site is in ship shape. Continue reading →

Blog / Related Search / SEO / Uncategorized — No Comments
6
Feb 13

Robots.txt vs. noindex: What’s the difference and when to use which?

Earlier this week, I discovered that several of our uploaded images were being assigned a unique URL and indexed in Google. While it’s not likely that someone would be performing a site search of evolvedigitallabs.com, it is still alarming to see pages I didn’t know existed floating around the SERPs.

There are a couple ways to prevent search bots from showing a website’s pages in the results. One is adding the URL(s) to the robots.txt file. Another way – the more effective way in many cases – is by using meta tags to instruct robots what you want them to do. This post explains each route and provides some scenarios so you can better understand which way to go. It can be confusing. Continue reading →

Blog / Internet Marketing / SEO — No Comments
30
Jan 13

Your content should sell three things.

By Emily Wisely. Find her on Twitter!

I’m back to talk about the delicate art of content marketing because I believe in its effectiveness when it’s done well. Something that’s kind of annoyed me lately is the abundance of posts about content creation, especially articles geared toward industries that are lackluster. No one really has any unique examples to share. There’s dollar-shave-club-this and red-bull-that. But what about everybody else? How can a boring brand produce something that will actually help customers? I want marketing companies to stop describing good content and start showing me. Unless we can see how quality content is actually working for brands, how are we supposed to sell the idea to potential clients?

Frustrated by repetitive, thin articles, I decided to crank the tunes and curate some examples myself. I learn best by doing, anyway.

After a little research, I realized companies’ content (not just B2B) can sell three things: products, creativity, and information. The content that really impresses me is able to sell all three. Most brands’ content sells at least two. Let’s dig in to what these mean. Continue reading →

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